Muntader al-Zaidi, unknown a week ago, today, an honorable name in a profession that is only a hazy shadow of its former self.... al Zaidi is the journalist who threw the shoe at George W. Bush, calling him a dog and adding:
"This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."
He could have thrown it at all those timorous scratchers for such glorified rags as the Washington Post, the NYT, even the LA Times, who never used the words widows and orphans when writing about Iraq. Especially not in conjunction with US action there. They did not even dare use the word "civil war." No sooner do struggling reporters make the grade, than they drop their ideals like a very heavy bale of hay while the nose sniffs the stratospheres.
Oh, today the editorial boards are opposed to the war, but where were these clowns when the war was being sold? How come so many people the world round knew that the facts were being fabricated? But those wise journalists did not? Those boobs disguising as savvy editors? They were hemming and hawing, afraid that maybe someone would blame the media and just maybe there were WMD. Are they surprised that sales figures are dropping? Who are the real shameless ones....?
George W. Bush, yes. But the fourth pillar of democracy in the USA, the press, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Middle Mind (see Curtis White), they have been asleep at the wheel.
And in fact they always have been. Watergate? That was a fluke and nothing more, believe me. It's like a surgeon performing a successful appendicitis and running around for the next 35 years saying what a great surgeon he is and amputating legs to cure ear aches. During the whole time, the 70s, the 80s, even the 90s and certainly since the neocon coup d'état, these great journalists like Woodward and Bernstein, have been whooping up the status quo, reporting the obvious and never touching the genuinely controversial.
Well, al-Zaidi put them to shame with one swift and decisive piece of action. They are all worrying about whether he has been beaten or not -- again, what could be more obvious -- perhaps they should be wondering at the pain felt by the Iraqi mothers, fathers and sisters and brothers who have lost relatives to American hubris. Voting for Obama has not cleaned that record. Just like voting for Reagan and his Happy Days message did not cleanse the monstrosity that was Vietnam. But don't wait for introspection to suddenly take hold of the American press and the American public. Don't expect GW Bush to suddenly take on human and humane traits. The man enjoys his killing the way some enjoy reading a good book. It's the evangelical in him.
Cheers, al-Zaidi. And thanks.
"This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."
He could have thrown it at all those timorous scratchers for such glorified rags as the Washington Post, the NYT, even the LA Times, who never used the words widows and orphans when writing about Iraq. Especially not in conjunction with US action there. They did not even dare use the word "civil war." No sooner do struggling reporters make the grade, than they drop their ideals like a very heavy bale of hay while the nose sniffs the stratospheres.
Oh, today the editorial boards are opposed to the war, but where were these clowns when the war was being sold? How come so many people the world round knew that the facts were being fabricated? But those wise journalists did not? Those boobs disguising as savvy editors? They were hemming and hawing, afraid that maybe someone would blame the media and just maybe there were WMD. Are they surprised that sales figures are dropping? Who are the real shameless ones....?
George W. Bush, yes. But the fourth pillar of democracy in the USA, the press, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Middle Mind (see Curtis White), they have been asleep at the wheel.
And in fact they always have been. Watergate? That was a fluke and nothing more, believe me. It's like a surgeon performing a successful appendicitis and running around for the next 35 years saying what a great surgeon he is and amputating legs to cure ear aches. During the whole time, the 70s, the 80s, even the 90s and certainly since the neocon coup d'état, these great journalists like Woodward and Bernstein, have been whooping up the status quo, reporting the obvious and never touching the genuinely controversial.
Well, al-Zaidi put them to shame with one swift and decisive piece of action. They are all worrying about whether he has been beaten or not -- again, what could be more obvious -- perhaps they should be wondering at the pain felt by the Iraqi mothers, fathers and sisters and brothers who have lost relatives to American hubris. Voting for Obama has not cleaned that record. Just like voting for Reagan and his Happy Days message did not cleanse the monstrosity that was Vietnam. But don't wait for introspection to suddenly take hold of the American press and the American public. Don't expect GW Bush to suddenly take on human and humane traits. The man enjoys his killing the way some enjoy reading a good book. It's the evangelical in him.
Cheers, al-Zaidi. And thanks.
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